RibbonKeys RibbonKeys

RibbonKeys is €39.99 once.

RibbonKeys draws the Windows Alt-key letters over Excel's ribbon on a Mac, and a lifetime licence is €39.99 once, including VAT. It is free for 7 days, with no account and no card, and it is also €3.99 a month.

The table sets that next to Accelerator Keys, MacCove, LightningXL, Excel's own shortcuts and KeyTips, and running Windows Excel in Parallels. Figures in the other columns were read from the public pages linked below, on 5 October 2026. A short quoted phrase is in quotation marks.

Download RibbonKeys

Free for 7 days, with no account and no card. After that €3.99 a month or €39.99 once, including VAT.
Needs macOS 13 or later and Excel for Mac.

RibbonKeys Accelerator Keys MacCove LightningXL Excel for Mac Windows Excel in Parallels
What it is A menu-bar app that draws the Windows letters over the ribbon of Excel for Mac. A menu-bar app for Excel and PowerPoint on the Mac. Its description says it shows “KeyTip badges”. An app that runs a Windows sequence as the matching action in Excel for Mac. Its shortcut list says “58 confirmed shortcuts”. Its homepage says it gives Excel, Word and PowerPoint on the Mac “the same keytips, model formatting and auditing shortcuts as Windows.” The shortcuts and KeyTips that come with Excel for Mac. Excel for Windows, running in a virtual machine. MacCove's homepage describes Parallels as “Runs a full Windows VM”.
Apps Excel only. Not PowerPoint or Word. Made and tested with the current Excel for Mac, version 16. Excel and PowerPoint. Its pricing page says Word is “coming Q3 2026”. Its homepage FAQ lists Office 365, 2021, 2019 and 2016. Excel for Mac, which is how its FAQ describes it. Microsoft 365 versions of Excel, Word and PowerPoint. Excel for Mac. Excel for Windows.
Letters On the ribbon, and on the items of dropdowns and submenus. Esc steps back one level. Option can be held with the first letter. The Excel 2003 menu keys work, such as E S for Paste Special. Dialogs have letters. Ctrl+U underlines, and a switch turns that off. KeyTip badges, as quoted above. Its llms.txt says it supports the legacy sequences Alt+E, Alt+I, Alt+O and Alt+D. Its setup guide says “Use the Cmd Key instead of the Ctrl Key” for shortcuts that used Ctrl on Windows. Its shortcut list says you type the Windows sequence and the app runs the matching action. Tap Option and it shows the keytips. The homepage gives “⌥ H O I to AutoFit a column”, and says the Command key can be the trigger instead. Shortcuts use the Command key. They differ from Windows and reach only part of the ribbon. KeyTips have been in Excel for Mac since 2024 and are off by default, under Excel's settings, Accessibility. As Microsoft introduced them, some sequences differ from Windows, dropdown items are chosen with the arrow keys, Esc ends the whole sequence, and holding Option with a letter types a symbol. The Alt keys are the ones Excel for Windows already has.
Price €39.99 once, or €3.99 a month until cancelled. Both include VAT. €3.99 is charged each month. Essential is $39.99 a year for Excel on one Mac, list price $49.99. Pro is $59.99 a year for Excel and PowerPoint on two Macs, list price $99.99. Paid plans are billed annually. $4.99 a month or $49.99 once, on the FAQ and in the terms. $50 a year, billed annually. Included with Excel. MacCove's comparison table describes the price as a subscription plus a Windows licence, and says the Windows licence is an extra cost.
Trial 7 days from the first launch. No account and no card. 14 days, no card. The setup guide asks for an email address and a verification code. 7 days, or a usage limit. The homepage says no account is needed. 7 days, no card. None. The shortcuts are part of Excel. A separate Windows installation, not a trial of Excel for Mac.
Macs A licence covers one Mac. It can be moved to a new Mac from the Licence tab. A business can enter its VAT number at checkout and receive an invoice. Essential is one Mac. Pro is two. From five seats, the pricing page lists $29.99 a year for Essential and $49.99 a year for Pro, per seat, managed from an account portal. The terms say each licence covers a single Mac. The terms say one Mac at a time. The licence moves by deactivating the first Mac. Follows your Excel licence. Follows the Windows licence MacCove's table calls an extra cost.
macOS macOS 13 or later. The FAQ says macOS 12 Monterey through macOS 27 Golden Gate. The FAQ says macOS 14.0 or later. macOS 13 Ventura or later, on Apple silicon and Intel. The macOS version Excel for Mac itself requires. A virtual machine on the Mac, rather than a version of Excel for Mac.
Permission Accessibility only, so it can notice Option, find the ribbon's buttons and press them. The setup guide asks for Accessibility. The FAQ names Accessibility, Input Monitoring and admin. Accessibility, to see the Office ribbon and press its buttons. None added by RibbonKeys. Those of the virtual machine and of Excel for Windows.
Offline A lifetime licence has no end date and stays on the Mac. A subscription is checked about once an hour. Its llms.txt says it works offline. The terms limit offline use to 24 hours in the trial and 7 days after paying. Its description says the only network calls check the licence and, once a day, whether a newer version exists. Excel's own shortcuts need no connection to this site. The virtual machine runs on the Mac.
Updates The app reads a version number on this site and offers a download. It does not install the update. The pricing page lists automatic updates. Its llms.txt says “auto-updates (via Sparkle)”. The terms say it checks once a day, offers the update, and does not install it without you. Microsoft updates Excel. Windows and Excel for Windows update inside the virtual machine.

Refunds

RibbonKeys gives a consumer 14 days to withdraw. Apart from that, payments are not refunded, and a cancelled month runs to the end already paid for. The terms of sale say this in full.

Accelerator Keys' buy page, checked the same day, offers a “14-Day Money-Back Guarantee”.

MacCove's terms say a refund is handled case by case.

LightningXL's terms say that within 14 days of the first purchase, if it does not work on your Mac and they cannot fix it, they refund in full. Otherwise a refund is at their discretion.

The sequences people type

Sources, checked 5 October 2026